(Posted 8 a.m., Aug. 15)
Hornets claim two titles at Gloucester Invitational Soccer Tournament
By Fred Sherwin
The Orleans Star

Two opposing players from Ottawa South United and the Cumberland Cobras battle for the ball during their U9 game in the Ottawa Gloucester Soccer Festival at the Hornet’s Nest on the weekend. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The Ottawa Gloucester Soccer Club hosted its annual girls tournament on the weekend and came away from the Hornets Nest with a pair of titles in the U16 and U17/18 divisions.

They almost made it three-for-three if not for a very hot Peterborough City team which beat the Hornets U13 Regional team in the U15 final. You read correctly, the U13 team made it to the U15 final despite playing up two age groups which is almost unheard of in tournament play.

The U13 Hornets went 1-2-1 during round play, which included a 0-0 draw against their U14 clubmates. The two teams finished the round robin portion of the tournament with identical records along with the Cumberland Cobras who also had a win and two ties against only one loss, but the U13 squad advanced to the final thanks to their having the fewest goals against.

The team is locked in a tight race for the East Region Soccer League champ-ionship with the Glengarry Hearts and AS Gatineau. The Hearts currently sit at the top of the table with 28 points, while the Hornets are tied in second place with Gatineau at 19 points each, however, they both have three games in hand worth a potential nine points.

In other Ottawa Gloucester tournament action, the Hornets U15 Regional team played up an age group to win the U16 division with a perfect 4-0 record including a 1-0 win over Victoriaville in the Sunday’s final.

Julian Larose scored the lone goal in the championship game for the Hornets, which had beaten the same Victoriaville team 2-0 in the round robin to go along with wins over West Ottawa (6-0) and the Russell Raiders (1-0).

The U15 team currently sits in third place in the East Region Soccer League standings, three points behind the second place Kingston Clippers and 12 points behind Cumberland United who so far have a perfect 11-0-0 record.

Not wanting to be shown up by their younger clubmates, the Hornets U17 Regional team also made short work of their opponents over the weekend. They won four times and tied once in claiming the U17/18 title over the U18 Cumberland Cobras, who they easily beat 3-0 in the final on a pair of goals by Kennedy Armstrong and an insurance marker by Isabelle MacInnis.

The U17 Hornets are currently tied with West Ottawa for first place in the ERSL standings with 13 points each, but Ottawa Gloucester has two games in hand.

One of the special aspects of the Ottawa Gloucester tournament is the Soccer Festival which allows U11, U10 and U9 teams to play one another without the pressure of keeping track of the score or playing for a title. The teams play nine aside on the Hornet’s Nest mini fields.

The festival is the perfect preparation for tournament play when the kids get older and gain more experience.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)